Umaru Barrie, Ph.D.

My time in graduate school has been full of self-discovery as I bridged the gaps between my academic, personal and community goals. As an aspiring physician-scientist, I was drawn to UT Southwestern's commitment to outstanding biomedical research, its world-class facilities, and the diverse and collaborative research environment.

My training with Dawn Wetzel, M.D., Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Biochemistry, was very fruitful with discoveries in the lab that we hope will translate into therapies for leishmaniasis, a parasitic disease found in parts of the tropics, subtropics, and southern Europe.

When I enrolled in the Perot Family Scholars Medical Scientist Training Program, I became the first postgraduate student in my family. As a refugee from Sierra Leone and a first-generation student, I wondered how I could confront a task no one in my family had accomplished. This is why UT Southwestern’s commitment to mentorship was so vital to me. In addition to being accomplished researchers, the faculty members are also dedicated mentors who work closely with their students to develop their scientific and professional skills.

The support I found at UT Southwestern allowed me to pursue my desire to give back to the community. I co-founded the UT Southwestern Patient Navigator Program for Individuals Experiencing Homelessness, participated in the Dallas-Fort Worth Albert Schweitzer Fellowship, and co-founded the Guinean Medical Society, a 501(c)3 non-profit that advocates for evidence-based healthcare in Guinea. For my work in the DFW community, I was awarded the 2018 UT Southwestern Martin Luther King Community Service Scholarship.

After graduating with my M.D./Ph.D. from UT Southwestern, I aim to pursue a neurological surgery residency to become an academic pediatric neurosurgeon and pursue basic science on molecular immunology orneuromicrobiology as well as to conduct public health research on surgical outcomes of neurological diseases,and global neurosurgery.